Equivalence Gates
by Zolarix Aster
Summary: Some people are better liars than others; some people can only lie to themselves. Spitfire Week, 2011. Prompt seven: Trust.
1. Secret

Disclaimer: I do not own "Young Justice." Also, I haven't had class for a couple months. If my description of computer circuitry isn't spot on, please forgive me my mistakes. (I swear, it is relevant to the story!)

Trigger warning: implications of abuse.

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><p><em>At the hardware level, a computer is simply a set of various logic circuits that produce either a 1 or a 0, true or false, depending on the type of gate and two different inputs, which are also composed of ones and zeros. Depending on the gates, the two same inputs can give any number of different results. It's all dependent on circumstance.<br>_

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><p>The mission was almost complete. Explosives were planted, information was gained, now the team just needed to get out of the old manor without getting attention from their charming but villainous host.<p>

Artemis grinned as Wally pulled at his shirt collar in annoyance; getting in had required the entire team to dress up and play the part of fashionable but oblivious guests at the old leech's party. It was nice to know she wasn't the only one uncomfortable running a mission dressed in several square yards of lace and blue silk.

They met Robin in a hallway near the main hall. He had already replaced his sunglasses with his customary domino mask.

"You got the information?" the Boy Wonder asked.

"Of course. You?" Wally said, glancing with curiosity at the duffel-bag the acrobat was carrying.

"Things… went a bit pear-shaped on our end. We're leaving out the back. Meet you there in fifteen."

Not waiting for questions, Robin thrust the bag into Wally's hands before shoving the two of them through a nearby door. Artemis frowned; the room was large enough and fairly well lit, but it was still undeniably a closet. Wally knelt and tore open the bag.

"Wetsuits?" the speedster wailed, "I thought we were walking out the front door!" Artemis understood his dismay; the waters surrounding the manor were frigid.

Artemis hid her apprehension by snatching one of the suits.

"Too cold for you, Baywatch?" She watched in satisfaction as the dismay turned to indignation, then bravado as he pulled off the overcoat of his suit and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Nope. I'm just concerned about you; you swim like a rock." His fingers fumbled on the buttons as he realized she was still watching.

"Um, aren't you going to turn around?"

Artemis pasted her best smirk and shook her head.

"Nope." As his eyes bugged out she explained "I can't remove this stupid dress by myself. I'll need," she bit her lip before spitting out the word "help. At least this way, we're even."

"Help?" Wally's voice reached an octave Artemis didn't think he'd hit since the start of puberty. If she hadn't been so annoyed about the situation herself, she would have been amused by his panic.

"With the ties. Megan helped me with them before we left." When the speedster continued to hesitate, she grabbed his wrist, pulling him closer and turning around. "Just do it before I hit you." As she felt clammy fingers pulling at the ties Artemis added "And watch the hands, Kid Flirt."

As Wally moved up to the next knot, she pulled her hair back over her shoulder so he could see. She felt him freeze.

_Fuck._

Scars. Some from fights or missions, but most from training. She had forgotten.

Artemis felt Wally's eyes trace over the thin lines and she started running though lies in her head. _I was in an accident, a fight with a villain went wrong, I don't want to talk about it. Please don't ask._

"Car accident," she choked out. She'd been lying to them, to him, this entire time, but this was the only one that made her throat close up. "Went through the windshield sideways."

After several tense seconds, she heard a relieved chuckled as Wally tugged at the next knot.

"Could've been worse, right?" Artemis could hear the strain in his voice, and she tried to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah. You probably would've been crying like a baby, though."

The second knot fell apart.

"In your dreams, Blondie."

They exchanged well-natured insults as the next three knots disappeared. Artemis pulled away as she felt the speedster untie the last one.

"Your turn." She turned around just in time to see him start blushing again. Without the ties holding it up, the dress was starting to slip.

As the redhead looked around nervously, Artemis leaned forward and swatted him.

"Calm down. We're both wearing underthings," _True._ "and anyway, you don't have anything I haven't seen before." _Mostly true._ "And trust me, I have no designs on your virtue, Kid Flirt." _Slightly less true._

This seemed to calm him, and he started pulling off his shirt, sending suspicious glances her way every now and then as she pulled off the dress and started stepping into the wetsuit. Heh. That blush was back.

She paused, wetsuit halfway up, as Wally removed the dress pants and grabbed his own gear. Just because the speedster was annoying as heck didn't mean she couldn't appreciate a nice pair of legs. She knew he had noticed hers.

As he muttered and wrestled with the wetsuit, Artemis noticed a burn scar that branched out and up his left leg.

_That wasn't there last week._ He had finally made one of the team's trips to the beach, and there hadn't been any burns then.

_We haven't had any missions since then either._

He stopped moving and Artemis knew she'd been caught staring.

"How'd it happen?" she was just curious, she told herself. She couldn't care about him; she couldn't. Artemis knew she might have to kill him someday.

Green eyes looked away.

"Car accident." He still didn't meet her eyes. _You aren't a good liar,_ she thought, but didn't say.

"Really," Artemis said. It wasn't a question. Now he looked up, green-as-grass eyes catching hers, with a significant glance towards her back.

"Yes." With that one, final syllable, Wally pulled up the wetsuit, hiding the burn.

_If I tell you mine will you tell me yours?_ Artemis didn't ask. She'd already had her answer.

They swam back to the ship in silence.

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><p><em>ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies<em>


	2. AU

_**Prompt 2: AU **(Notes about the alternate 'verse can be found at the end of the chapter.)**  
><strong>_

_Each type of circuit has a different effect. For example, there are some gates that will reverse the value of the input, changing all 1's to 0's and visa versa._

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><p>"Who's this?" The team was gathered around Professor Zoom and some kid in yellow. Artemis didn't know much about the hero of Central City, but everyone knew the speedster was touchy about his turf. She couldn't imagine why he was here.<p>

"Kid Zoom. Your new teammate. And you're an angel, right?" The redhead's grin was mocking.

"Artemis, and I'm a lot of things; an angel isn't one of them. Why haven't I heard of you?" Professor Zoom didn't have a sidekick. If he did, he would probably have less issues with the Flash tearing up his city.

"He's my nephew," Professor Zoom spat out the last word like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Looking at the kid's smirk, Artemis could imagine why.

"We don't need any more people on the team." _And if we did, it should be Roy_. Ollie's other sidekick was like her big brother; even if he didn't feel like he wanted a place on the team, she would keep it for him.

"I like him," Robin volunteered. Bright green eyes flashed in delight.

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><p>After the mission to protect Dr. Roquette, Artemis cornered Kid raiding the fridge. He had already hidden Cheshire's mask off somewhere and changed into civvies.<p>

When he saw she was there, he paused, waiting.

She finally spoke, eyes narrowed.

"Cheshire was my fight." A fight he had interrupted. That bitch had nearly _drowned_ her, and Artemis had been robbed of a chance to fight back.

He shrugged.

"So? She was going to get away, otherwise."

Artemis glared. That may have been true, but they didn't _know_ that, and she didn't like owing this brat anything.

Kid winced and looked away. "Besides, in the first attack you shoved me out of the way of a shuriken. This way, we're even." He turned a smile on her. It would have been charming, if it weren't so damn smug. "I'll let you have the next one."

Artemis didn't stop glaring.

"I still don't like you," she said. He shrugged and turned back to the fridge. She stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, eyes wide with surprise and something else she couldn't identify.

"But I think I can trust you. You're part of the team now. So… welcome."

He nodded but didn't speak, and Artemis turned to leave.

"Wally," Kid Zoom said. Artemis paused in the doorway.

"What?"

"That—that's my name. Wally."

She didn't turn around.

"Thanks."

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><p>Wally picked at his ice cream, watching it melt in the noonday sun. As he picked up one spoonful and watched it gloop back into the bowl, half liquid, a shadow fell across the table.<p>

A blond man smiled down at him, bright eyes flashing in the sunlight.

"Mind if I sit here, kid?"

Wally put on his best grin.

"Sorry, I'm waiting for my favorite uncle."

The man sat down and ruffled Wally's hair fondly.

"Brat. How's the new team going?"

Wally's smile dimmed as he thought about blond hair, brown eyes and a trust he didn't deserve.

"Pretty well. With each mission they're better coordinated, but there are several fracture points in their tactics that an enemy could exploit if he knew what he was doing."

The Flash beamed, every inch a proud uncle.

"Good. Tell me more."

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><p><strong>Just in case everything wasn't clear: They switched. Artemis actually <em>is<em> Green Arrow's sidekick and adopted niece. She's also one of the original three who went to Cadmus and found Superboy. Speedy is still going solo.**

**Wally shows up when Artemis did in canon. In this AU, the Flash isn't a good guy. Central City's hero is Professor Zoom, who was one of Reverse-Flashes from comics-canon. It's all but confirmed that in YJ canon, Artemis is Sportsmaster's daughter (and probably the mole), so Wally's still reporting back to the Flash.**

**Many thanks to Wheatieluv, who pointed out that I wasn't really clear about what was going on.  
><strong>

**By the way, I absolutely love reviews.**


	3. Crush

**Prompt 3: Crush**

Notes: Familiarity with Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" isn't required, but it will help. Long version short, two of the characters, Beatrice and Benedick, spend all their time sniping at each other. In the end, they turn out to be in love. Sound familiar?

Also, for those who don't know, in the comics, Barbara Gordon is Batgirl. And I have no clue if I'm characterizing her correctly.

And Word of God is that Wally _does_ know Robin's secret ID.

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><p><em>Another type of circuit is the OR gate. It will return a true as long as one of the inputs is also true, regardless of the second input.<em>

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><p><strong>Gotham Academy. September 4, 14:36 EDT<strong>

Artemis was the first out the door when the bell rang, ending her last class of the day. The teacher felt the best way to teach Shakespeare was to have the students read parts out loud. It would have been more amusing if that Grayson kid hadn't kept trying to volunteer her to read the part of Beatrice.

"Who's that?" Barbara Gordon emerged from the classroom half a step behind Artemis. They shared several classes and got along fairly well, leading Artemis to wonder if this new school wouldn't be so bad.

That Grayson kid though... Why did he have to be in _her_ English class? There was no way he was old enough to be a sophomore, and he was almost as annoying as a certain red-haired speedster she could name.

Artemis froze as she realized that Barbara was pointing at that very speedster.

Why was Wally in Gotham? More urgently, why was he outside her classroom?

"He's kind cute, in a geeky way." Barbara observed. Ten feet away, Wally was reading a poster, oblivious to Babs' evaluation and Artemis' glares.

Artemis stormed over and cleared her throat. Wally looked up, startled. When he saw who it was, his expression darkened.

"What are_ you_ doing here?" he said. Artemis bristled at the accusatory tone.

"I go to school here. What's your excuse?"

His eyes followed the rest of the students behind her as they exited the classroom. Artemis turned. She could see Babs talking with Dick Grayson as the rest of the students wandered off. She didn't see anyone that Wally would know.

"Meeting a friend, but I don't see him. I guess thisisthewrongroom." He finished his sentence quickly and fled before she could stop him.

Barbara had wandered over again, speculative eyes following the retreating speedster.

"You know him?" she teased. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, from a couple archery competitions. He's an idiot." Artemis felt a twinge of guilt, both for the lie and the insult. Saying it to Wally's face was a lot different than saying it to a stranger behind his back.

Babs didn't look like she believed her anyway.

"What did he want to say to you?"

"He wasn't here for me. He said he was meeting a friend."

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><p>"Dude, you didn't say Artemis went to your school!"<p>

Dick rolled his eyes as Wally waved his arms dramatically and started listing unfavorable adjectives. When the speedster took a breath in between imprecations, Robin cut him off.

"And I suppose she has misused you past the endurance of a block, as well?"

A pause as Wally absorbed what he had said.

"What?" All of his previous ire had been replaced by bafflement.

"Nothing." Robin said quickly. _Now just take the bait._

"Come on, tell me!"

"I'm just referencing a play we're reading in class. You wouldn't get it."

Robin didn't resist as Wally grabbed the booklet with the play in it.

"Wanna bet?"

_Good fishy._

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><p><strong>Mount Justice. September 4, 16:42 EDT<strong>

Artemis frowned as she surveyed the scene in front of her.

Robin was teaching M'gann and Superboy how to play rock-paper-scissors. Kaldur was reviewing reports from their last mission.

Wally was reading an all-too-familiar booklet. He looked up as Artemis walked into the main room of Mount Justice. He grinned.

"'What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living?'" Artemis rolled her eyes.

"How long have you been waiting to say that one?"

Wally glanced at the clock.

"About an hour…" Pages flipped. "And three scenes ago." He waved the booklet. "My friend suggested it."

Artemis smirked.

"You haven't finished reading it yet, have you?" She carefully noted that Robin was stifling giggles.

Wally was instantly suspicious.

"Why?"

"Act IV, scene 1. Near the end."

Wally flipped frantically through the booklet, then read in a monotone:

"'I do love nothing in the world so well as you, is that not strange.' What?" He turned a bright shade of red and dropped the booklet like it burned. Robin's giggles grew louder. Wally glared at him.

Artemis smirked and picked up the dropped book and flipping through it for a good passage. Before she could read it, Wally cut her off, hands making horizontal slicing motions through the air.

"This. Means. Nothing." A blur of red and yellow and he was gone.

Artemis turned to leave through the other door, making sure to hit Robin in the head with the booklet as she passed.

The room was uncomfortably silent. Conner broke it with a remark to Robin.

"You were right. He isn't a very good liar."

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><p><em>BENE: Suffer love—a good epithet! I do suffer love indeed, for I love thee against my will.<em>

***puppy eyes* Please review?**_  
><em>


	4. Fate A

**Prompt: Fate (1)  
><strong>

I ended up writing two fills for this prompt, which is why I'm a day late. Enjoy!

By the way, does anyone else find the way Doctor Fate was prepared to just not give Wally's body back in "Denial" incredibly creepy?

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><p>Artemis entered the kitchen just as Wally stormed out of it, leaving behind a half-eaten cookie. Still sitting on the counter, Robin looked confused.<p>

"What happened?"

Robin shrugged.

"The League is trying to learn more about the planes of Order and Chaos; there's been some issues with planar rifts and they're a bit worried. Apparently it's stuff that Kent Nelson might have known, but they can't exactly ask him about it. Miss M said that KF was the one who talked to him most during that mission a few weeks back, so I was checking to see if Nelson had mentioned anything."

"You were asking him about the guy who died right in front of him?" Artemis rolled her eyes. "Your people skills astound me sometimes, Boy Wonder."

She left.

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><p>She found him in the room he had claimed for his souvenirs, holding the Helmet of Fate. His hands trembled and he stared down at it, expression torn between fear and resignation.<p>

"He's still in here." Wally didn't look up.

_What?_

"What?" Artemis' voice shook a bit.

"Mr. Nelson. He… he stuck around. After the fight with Klarion."

Artemis pulled back her growing sympathy and tried to think pragmatically. _Think like Dad._ Her eyes narrowed.

"You could ask him about the League's questions, then." As she said it, Wally's face turned pale and he shook his head furiously.

"No. I'm not… no." There was something he wasn't telling her; Artemis had a feeling that she knew what it was.

"You're scared." _Really, is it so much to allow that magic exists for five minutes? Stupid stubborn—_

"Yeah."

"Fine." Artemis knelt down to his level and wrenched the helmet out of his grasp. For someone who looked like he wanted nothing so much as to throw the helmet across the room, he had a surprisingly strong grip on it.

"I'll do it."

Wally's eyes grew wide and he tried to grab the helmet back.

"Don't—"

She did, and the world went blue.

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><p>"<em>Hey, dumb kid! You put that helmet on you may never get it off!"<em>

Klarion's words rang mockingly through Wally's head as Artemis disappeared in a flash of yellow light, replaced by Doctor Fate.

"**You."** Nabu didn't sound happy.

"Yeah, me. Let her go!"

"**I thought you were trying to find me a new body. This one has a strong affinity for sorcery. And the world—"**

"The world needs Doctor Fate, I know." Wally rolled his eyes.

"**If you know, then you also realize what must be."**

"No! I'm not letting you body-snatch my friend!"

Wally ran to block the door, eyes determined. Behind the helmet, Nabu narrowed Artemis' eyes.

"**Very well."**

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><p>Artemis blinked as she looked around the mindspace.<p>

"Okay. This is… weird."

She jumped as she heard a friendly laugh behind her.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Kent Nelson chuckled. "Artemis, wasn't it?"

Artemis nodded.

"I wanted to ask you about the planes of Order and Chaos. That's where Doctor Fate is from, right?"

Kent Nelson shook his head sadly.

"Doctor Fate has fought attackers from the Chaos Plane, but I never really learned much about them. They need some kind of anchor to stay here, but that's something your friend could have told you. How is the kid, anyway?"

Artemis rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Frustrating as ever. He still refused to accept magic long enough to try to get in here and ask you this stuff."

Nelson frowned.

"So he let you do it instead."

"I wouldn't say 'let.' I had to grab the helmet from him."

Nelson still looked concerned. Artemis felt her stomach sink as she put two and two together.

"The magic-or-science thing is why he tried to stop me, is it?"

"Nope."

"What's my body doing right now?"

"Care to take a look?"

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><p>Wally's stumbled back from a burst of light. Nabu was catching on to what Captain Boomerang and the Trickster had figured out years ago: when fighting a speedster, don't aim for where they are; aim for where they'll be in a second.<p>

Ow.

A second burst of light sent him into the wall and he collapsed.

"**Cease your struggling and let me depart. I have no desire to kill you."**

"Sorry, not happening."

Inside the helmet-space, Artemis stared.

"What's that idiot doing? He's going to get himself killed."

Kent Nelson hid a smile.

"Nabu!" he called out. "We need to talk!"

Artemis saw her body pause in the middle of another blast of light. The helmet floated in the mind-space. She was fairly certain it was glaring at her. She glared back.

"What are you doing?"

"**He was trying to stop me.**"

"If this is what you did during the fight with Klarion, I don't blame him." Artemis tried the voice she had heard from various sources over the years. The voice that said _you will do what I say. Because if you don't, I will kill you._ "Let. Me. Out."

"**The world needs Doctor Fate to fight the forces of Chaos."**

"Wally knows that I don't want this. The League won't accept you stealing one of their own." Artemis carefully didn't mention which League.

Nabu was silent.

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><p>Wally tried to sit up, wincing at his sore ribs. When another blow didn't come, he looked up.<p>

Doctor Fate was removing the helmet.

As Fate disappeared and Artemis remained, Wally jumped up, bruises forgotten. He pulled her into a hug, or perhaps she pulled him.

After a second, they both pulled away. Wally cleared his throat.

"So. You…"

"Convinced him that I wasn't a good candidate after all."

"Oh." Wally looked a bit faint. "Good."

Artemis put the helmet back on the shelf.

"You know, he doesn't like you very much."

"Really?" Wally clutched his ribs. "Never would have guessed."

"The kindest thing he said was 'interfering agent of Chaos.'"

"Heh. Kid Entropy. I like it."

"Idiot." But they were both smiling.

"Hero," Wally corrected.

"Fine. Let's get you to the infirmary, hero."

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><p><strong>I'm not happy with the ending, but I'm too tired to fix it. I'll probably rewrite it someday.<strong>


	5. Fate B

**Prompt: Fate. (2)**

**Please note, this is one of two fics for this prompt. The other is in the previous chapter.  
><strong>

Dedicated to all my lovely reviewers, particularity The Walls of Jericho, who mentioned she wanted to see genderbending.

This is a genderbend. Names are about what you'd expect. Apollo is Artemis; Willow is Wally; M'att is M'gann; others are either really obvious (Supergirl) or unchanged (Robin).

The "fate" part of this ended up being smaller than I anticipated. But the conversation about it was definitely my original plan for this chapter. It just… grew.

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><p><em>New rule<em>, Apollo decided._ Don't taunt enemies who have caves full of acid lakes. Actually, better rule, don't let __**Willow**__taunt enemies who have acid lakes._

Behind him, the speedster struggled against the ropes that tied them back to back over the lake with little success.

"Stop that," Apollo muttered. As if to spite him, the struggling increased. "Seriously, stop. Unless you _want_ to get out of the only things stopping you from falling?"

The struggling ceased. After several moments of quiet broken only by bubbling acid, Willow spoke again.

"What if we swing over to that ledge?"

"That could work."

It did.

Once they were on the ledge, slipping off the hook that had been holding them from the ceiling was simple enough.

"My elbow itches."

Getting the ropes off would require a bit more work.

"Vibrate through the ropes?" Apollo asked. Robin had mentioned her friend still had difficulties with it, but maybe… Willow shook her head, whacking him with her ponytail.

"Best case scenario, I fail. If I succeed, you might blow up." Willow must have felt him jerk with surprise, because she added, "It's a recent development."

"Okay. Never mind the vibrating."

"Thought so."

"This path leads to the door," Apollo said after a moment. "Once we get out, we might find a sharp object."

"Or one of the team," Willow added.

"Or that," Apollo said softly.

They walked along the narrow ledge in silence, trying not to step on each other's feet or fall off. After several minutes of walking and watching the lake, Apollo spoke.

"You don't believe in magic. What about an afterlife?" It was honest curiosity, admittedly inspired by their present surroundings. Willow tensed.

"I'm really trying not to think about that at the moment."

Apollo frowned at the dodge.

"Fine. What about fate? Destiny? One true love?" His voice rang with sarcasm on the last one.

"No, no and no. Seriously, can't we talk about cookies or something?"

"No."

Apollo grinned until he felt a sharp elbow in his back. _Fine_. Willow squeaked when he stepped on the inside of her ankle and responded with a second elbow. They traded several more blows until an especially strong kick to the Apollo's knee made the ledge crumble a bit, rocks falling into the acid below.

They froze.

"Truce?"

"Truce," Apollo agreed.

They managed to hold to it for another five minutes.

"So, if you don't believe in 'finding the One' or anything like that, why are you so set on M'att?" Apollo internally swore as his mouth asked the question without consulting his brain first.

"I'm—I'm not!"

"Uh huh. You know he likes Supergirl, right?"

Willow snorted.

"Lex Luthor probably knows by now. It's a bit obvious."

"Except to you."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

There was a pause.

"I just hadn't pinned you for the 'pine after unattainable guys' type."

"Really? Cause I pinned you as the 'sarcastic jerk' type right away."

That stung more than Apollo liked.

"Fine."

Another three minutes of walking and sulking later, Willow suddenly stopped.

"Was that really necessary?" Maybe Apollo was still holding onto his annoyance. Maybe.

Willow spun around, giving him a good look at the twelve foot gap in the ledge.

"Yeah, it kinda was."

Jumping was out. So was going back.

"Theoretically," Willow said, "if I can get enough speed, I can maintain enough inertia to stay on the wall instead of falling."

Apollo nodded. "What should I do?"

"Lift your feet up so I'm carrying you on my back."

With some trepidation, Apollo did. The speedster stumbled a bit, but was able to support his weight. Barely.

"Okay, just do that while I'm running so you don't drag against the ground. I should be able to last long enough to cross."

They shuffled back to get room for a running start. Once they reached a good point, Willow paused instead of running. Apollo frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for a target."

_What._

Before the archer could say anything else, Willow started running. Two seconds later, they were across the ledge.

"Dammit, why do you have to be so heavy?"

Apollo smiled.

"What did you mean, 'looking for a target?'" Apollo asked; he had a feeling that "target" here had a very different meaning than it did when his father said it. Behind him, Willow sighed.

"When I first got my powers, I couldn't keep a straight line. I'd swerve or run into buildings." Apollo felt her shoulders shift. "My uncle gave me some advice: 'Find a target in the distance. Run for it.'"

"No matter how far away or out of reach?"

"Yeah."

After several more minutes of walking in comfortable silence, a thought struck Apollo. He grinned.

"Is that why—"

"No!"

"You know that 'find a target and run' doesn't actually work with _people_, right?" _Martians or otherwise._

"When we get out of these ropes I'm dumping you off the ledge."

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><p><strong>Reviews are food for the soul! Also, they inspire me to do stuff like this.<strong>


	6. Cold

**Prompt 5: Cold**

_An exclusive OR gate will only return true if one input is true and the other is false. Thus, it only returns completely true when the inputs are completely opposite of each other._

* * *

><p>Wally didn't react as she entered the room where Black Canary had them train. He didn't react, he didn't even look at her. Artemis thought he might even have stopped breathing.<p>

_Too mad to even breath the same air as me?_ It wouldn't be a surprise.

Black Canary came into the room directly on Artemis' heels.

"Today's lesson is about fighting in close quarters. You did well in your last mission, but this could save you a lot of trouble in the future."

The team nodded. Their last mission had ended in catacombs when they'd followed an assassin there after he tried to kill a Bulgravian diplomat.

Artemis noticed Wally scowling. He was probably remembering the other notable part of their mission; it had involved actually having to talk to her, rather than muttering something vaguely hostile and walking away.

It had been like this for two weeks. A simple mission in Kasnia had turned into a complicated mission in Kasnia had turned into getting captured by the League of Shadows. Several uncomfortable secrets had come out in that time, including that Artemis was reporting back to her father—at least, he thought she was. In the end, she had chosen the team, nearly getting killed in the process. After she had explained the circumstances, everyone had forgiven her.

Artemis glanced at the speedster. Well, almost everyone.

Afterwards, he had… stopped talking to her. She entered a room, he left it. She asked him a question, he pretended no one was there. He wouldn't even look at her directly, unless mandated by a mission.

The first mission after the Kasnia incident had been a disaster. They had gotten trapped together in a freezer when a thug had led them on a merry chase through Gotham's better restaurants.

_Wally tugged on the handle, muttering what Artemis was fairly certain were cursewords._

"_Locked?" she asked. Wally froze for a moment, then nodded. He moved away from the door and reached for his comlink._

"_Rob? … Yeah, a freezer, how'd ya guess? … You too? Seriously? Well, after Supey and Miss M get you can you send them over here?"_

_His smile faded as he turned off the com and started studying the shelves. Artemis waited for him to give her the information before realizing he wouldn't._

Damn it, you are _not_ playing this now!_ As her heart turned to ice, she resisted the urge to go over and slap him. Instead she asked, as normally as possible,_

"_So, when are they getting here?"_

"_Ten minutes." Wally's voice was coldly polite. He still wasn't looking at her, choosing instead to read the nutrition label on a bucket of ice cream._

_Ten minutes. She could deal with him for ten minutes._

_Five minutes later she realized how wrong _that_ was._

_Wally had probably read every label in the small freezer three times by now. He couldn't stand to keep still, so he was pacing back and forth on the half of the freezer furthest away from her. Every now and then he would go to the door and wrench on the handle, growling when it didn't work._

"_What's your problem?" One of these days Artemis would stop saying whatever came to mind. Today was not that day. "Is being trapped in a room with me _that_ bad?"_

_Wally paused in his pacing._

"_Yeah. It is."_

_That was probably the most amount of words he had said to her since Kasnia. Artemis felt a brief surge of guilt as she remembered why he was mad at her, but squashed it. She had saved them. She had saved _him_, and he was going to keep being cold and miserable._

"_I'm guessing that means you don't want to cuddle for warmth?" Before everything, she might have meant it. The freezer was cold, and they had started to get along fairly well. Better than well, even. But now, her voice rang with all the mockery she could muster._

_Wally smiled, but it looked more like a bitter upward twist of the lips than anything._

"_Not a chance."_

_Artemis felt another surge of guilt. Even stronger was the regret, tied to memories of _before.

_They sat in silence for the rest of the wait._

"The important part of fighting in close areas, besides knowing your surroundings, is to end the fight quickly. When you fight in a small space, there may not be room for a retreat. You can't run when the fight goes badly, and neither can your opponent. A cornered enemy is dangerous."

Black Canary had pulled in several crates and put them in the training space. They served as walls, confining any fight to a small, six-by-five area.

Black Canary nodded at the space.

"Kid Flash. Artemis. You'll be sparring first."

For the first time in two weeks, Wally looked at her. Green eyes narrowed in hostility and he took a step back.

"I really don't think—" he started. Black Canary cut him off.

"You're a team. Whatever issues you may have, they end on the battlefield." She said firmly.

_You're going to have to look at me to fight me, _Artemis thought with satisfaction. _You can't ignore me when it will result in a punch to the face._

They both walked into the box-space, waiting for the go-ahead. In the small area, they stood closely enough that Artemis could feel his body-heat. As she watched him pull school his expression back to chilly politeness, she prepared for an onslaught.

"Go."

They both stood there in defensive stances. Artemis could feel Black Canary's gaze on the back of her neck as she recalled the lesson. _"End the fight quickly_. _A cornered enemy is dangerous."_

Either Wally had remembered the lesson as well or his different perception of time had killed his patience. He attacked, sending a low kick to her right side. She blocked it then took the initiative, sending more several hits this way before he could continue the attack.

As they exchanged blows, Artemis noticed that the speedster's hits were light. He was holding back even more than would be expected for a spar.

Part of Artemis' mind, the rational part, pointed out that he wasn't letting his anger get the better of him, that it was the right decision. The rest of her was just ticked.

_Enough of this passive-aggressive bull._

She started putting more power into her hits, letting them sting a bit. He winced and started using superspeed to block, despite Black Canary's "no powers in the ring" policy.

She managed to twist his arm behind him just as he tangled up her legs.

_Impasse._

Their faces were less than six inches apart. Behind them, she heard Black Canary declare their spar to be a draw.

"Let me go." Wally whispered. His voice shook. Artemis held his arm tighter.

"Not until you let me apologize." For a moment their eyes met and Artemis thought he might. Then he looked away and pulled out of her grasp.

As he walked away, the heat he had brought with him left as well.

Artemis shivered.

* * *

><p><strong>Review?<strong>


	7. Pain

**Day Six: Pain (1)**

_Dammit, this was going to be different, but I'm too tired. You get some short fluff(-ish) for now. I'll write my main plan for this tomorrow._

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><p>"Ow. Owowow."<p>

Artemis slugged the whining speedster in the arm he hadn't pulled away.

"I barely touched it, Kid Wimp. Now hold still."

They were waiting for the rest of the team to meet them at the bio-ship. Their half of the plan was complete, the GPS markers were set, but a quick fight had ended in five unconscious mooks and Wally having a broken arm. Hyper-accelerated healing could be a good thing, but this time it wasn't; the arm had healed crookedly before they could get to it.

This was why Artemis was trying to rebreak and set it correctly. If only—

"Dammit, stop dodging!"

"No, I'm waiting for Rob. He's done this before, he knows what he's doing."

"So do I. Hold still!" He dodged again. She tackled him.

They wrestled for several minutes, Wally making sure to keep her away from his arm, until the rest of the team got into the ship.

"You should've seen it KF," Robin crowed, "Those guys were about as far from feated as—" He stopped as the scene before him sunk in. Artemis had managed to finally pin down Wally. She was sitting on his legs and leaning forward to stop him from struggling. They had both frozen at the acrobat's arrival and Artemis was now painfully aware that it looked like they were doing something completely different.

Wally, of course, had chosen this opportunity to look for reinforcements.

"Rob, you have to help meshe'stryingto—_Ow!_" Wally turned pale.

Artemis had grabbed his arm and, in several quick movements, rebroken it, set it, and started tying on one of her arrows as a splint.

"You're fine."

"Ow." Wally looked at his arm like he'd never seen it before.

"You're fine."

"That _hurt_."

"You're fine." Artemis wondered if it was a lost cause. There was silence as Wally studied his arm a bit more, then looked at her. The archer wondered for a moment if she was actually going to get a thank you.

"You're still sitting on me."

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><p><strong>Note- Feated: opposite of defeated, at least in Robin-speak.<strong>


	8. Trust

**Prompt seven: Trust**

Okay, that other idea didn't work out so well. I have a detailed outline though, so I might finish and post it here someday. In the meantime, this is the last (official) chapter. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, faved or alerted!

Also, here is where we see the meaning of the title. Woot!

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><p><em>The final type of gate is the AND gate, also known as an equivalence gate. It only returns true if both the inputs are also true. If one or both is false, then it also returns false.<em>

* * *

><p>Kaldur looked up as the computer announced "Recognized. Speedy. B06."<p>

There was growling response. "It's Red. Arrow." He had attempted to update it three times now, but either a bug or someone else –Kaldur suspected Robin—kept changing it back.

The computer was unresponsive, and Roy just walked away from the Zeta beam. When he reached Kaldur, he crossed his arms.

"We need to talk."

* * *

><p>Artemis leaned against the door and let the sounds from inside wash over her. Kaldur and Speedy were chatting behind closed doors, and while the team leader was dependable and trustworthy, Roy was…<p>

He just was.

Wally turned the corner and saw her standing against the door. She nodded at him, then waited for him to pass. After Bialya, they had reached a more comfortable level of conversation, but that didn't mean they were best friends.

Thus, Artemis tried not to react when, rather than passing by, Wally took a spot on the wall next to her.

His shifting was a strong contrast to her own stillness, and it grated on her.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well, what?" he didn't meet her eyes. Artemis glared at him. _Well,_ y_ou have something to say, just spit it out already._

"Can I help you?"

She was so distracted by his flustered and completely incoherent answer that she didn't even notice the voices in the room had ceased until the door she was leaning on opened and she fell backwards.

* * *

><p>"You." Red Arrow's voice was accusatory. Artemis couldn't help but be glib. She held up her hands in mock surrender.<p>

"Me."

"You're not Green Arrow's niece. I was willing to let it slide before, but you're lying, there's a mole, and you were listening in."

By this point the rest of the team had also shown up. Given that one was a telepath, one had superhearing and the last was trained by the Batman, Kaldur had since given up on trying to keep this quiet. Now, he'd settle for keeping it non-violent.

The way Artemis was clutching her bow, he wasn't too confident about that, either. But nothing was set in stone. He watched the rest of the team, looking for guilty expressions or hidden satisfaction at not being found. He saw the same things he had when he had explained the events of Taipai.

M'gann looked worried but guileless. Superboy looked mildly suspicious. Wally looked contemplative, which was odd, given the circumstances. Robin was unreadable.

Artemis and Roy just looked angry.

"You said Sportsmaster knew about Santa Prisca. Artemis wasn't part of the team during that mission," Wally said.

"Yes, but Sportsmaster was there," Robin pointed out. "He wouldn't have needed a mole, then."

"For team dynamics and how we did poorly? He would. All he saw of us was when we were kicking their butts."

Now Artemis' angry expression was gone, replaced with something like shock. Kaldur nodded.

"We'll keep the possibilities open, but that's a good point. And," Kaldur spared a stern look for Roy. "We still don't know if there is a mole. Sportsmaster may have been trying to cause dissent within the team. If there is a mole, it might not be a person."

Now Artemis looked angry again. Her knuckles were white as she clutched her bow.

"Causing dissent is a good possibility. Sportsmaster… is good at manipulating people." Artemis sighed before adding, "I should know."

Everyone on the team suddenly went still.

"Explain," Kaldur said.

"He," she nodded at Roy, "wasn't lying. Green Arrow's not my uncle. Sportsmaster is my father, and Green Arrow lied about it for me, for obvious reasons."

Robin's mask-slits went wide.

"That's why your file on the Bat-computer is classified!" As the team plus Roy all looked at him, he shrugged. "What? Batman keeps his files pretty secure."

After a moment, Roy shook his head.

"This doesn't solve your problem. You don't know how he got the information."

"We don't. But for now, all we can do is wait. This meeting is done."

As he indicated that the rest the team should disperse, Artemis said "Wait. What about me?"

"I understand why you wouldn't wish us to know, but you've proven yourself as a member of the team." Kaldur smiled and put a hand on her shoulder as the others nodded. "Thank you for your honesty with us now."

* * *

><p>As the team actually started to leave, Artemis pulled Wally to the side. She crossed her arms.<p>

"You were the first person to defend me. Why?"

The speedster looked uncomfortable at being confronted.

"It just made sense. Logically. Santa Prisca and all." He shrugged and tried to walk around her. She moved into his path again.

"You don't even like me. And the Santa Prisca thing is pretty thin."

"Look, I just… I know I can trust you. As a member of the team, I mean," he said quickly.

"Why?" This was the thread she couldn't put her finger on. Wally shrugged again as he finally dodged around her.

"I just do. Are you going to try to convince me I'm wrong?"

She smiled as he walked away. By the time she answered, he was already gone.

"No."

* * *

><p>"They suspect there's a mole. Aqualad was trying to investigate it quietly, but Red Arrow let it slip."<p>

Cheshire smiled at the information.

"I'm sure you were the first suspect. How did they react to your real identity?"

Artemis frowned.

"Who says they know? Sure, I was the first suspect, but they don't have any proof."

"Oh, they know. Don't try to lie to me." Cheshire's smile got wider. "Anyway, I have the information I need. See you next week."

Artemis' eyes narrowed. "What do you know?"

"Really, didn't Daddy teach you anything?" Cheshire's voice was equal parts pity and mockery. "Even if he kept the best tricks to himself, he must have at least given you the basics. You can't trust spies. If you could, they wouldn't _be_ double agents."

Artemis' eyes widened.

_That's why you should always have a second source._

"Who?" she demanded. But Cheshire was gone.

* * *

><p>The cold night air was chilly as he stood in the shadow of the building, waiting for his contact. Tonight was especially miserable; it had rained earlier, and everything was covered in a slick coating of mud.<p>

As they did before every meeting, Wally's fingers moved to the back of his neck. Near his spine, he could feel a small bump; it was an unwelcome souvenir from their adventure to Cadmus.

"_I can kill you with a word. I can kill the others, too, but they don't need to know that yet. Simply do everything I say, and you'll be alright."_

He didn't even know if it was a nanochip or something else completely. It was too much to hope for that it could simply be removed.

"It'll be alright," he whispered. It had to be true, or all this was for nothing.

The click of footsteps behind him alerted him to the arrival of his contact. Per his instructions, Wally didn't turn around and just waited for the familiar command.

"Tell me."

Wally closed his eyes.

"We didn't have any missions this week, but Ka—Aqualad suspects there's a mole…"

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><p><strong>Okay, be honest, who saw that coming? Also, as the last chapter, this is your last chance to review! Tell me what you think!<strong>


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